


Headaches

by templarsandhoes



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 06:44:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7256629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/templarsandhoes/pseuds/templarsandhoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Migraines were unfortunately normal for Kaidan Alenko, and dealing with them came second nature to him. But when Commander Nicole Shepard develops one, he has to help someone else through the pain for once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Headaches

The lights in Nicole’s cabin were too bright, even though she had them dimmed as low as they could be without being completely off. It didn’t help that she still could not figure out how to dim the fish tank light. She didn’t want it completely off, but knew there was a way to dim it. Too embarrassed to ask EDI, she simply pulled a pillow over her eyes. This was, by far, the worst headache she had ever had. She even felt nauseous. From a headache. Tears leaked from her closed eyes as she tried to sleep, but couldn’t. The thought crossed her mind to ask Kaidan for, well, something to help the pain. But she shouldn’t disturb him. He dealt with headaches all the time, and it never affected his job and work ethic. It shouldn’t affect hers, either. She took a deep breath, and sat up in bed. Nope. She was desperate. 

Kaidan sat in the lounge, mindlessly finishing reports. He hadn’t heard from Shepard in a few hours, but that wasn’t unusual. Just disappointing, sort of. They had lost so much time, and they wanted to not make that mistake again. But, then again, a few hours apart while they were working wouldn’t be the worst. However, he couldn’t hide his smile when a new message from her popped up on his omni-tool. Upon reading the message, his brow furrowed. Then he chuckled. “ _ Please help me, I’m pretty sure I’m dying _ ,” the message said. He put his datapad aside, sighing as he got ready to stand up. This war was taking a lot out of him, and her, too. He knew she wasn’t dying, but he did have a feeling she wasn’t in perfect condition. 

The elevator ride was short, and when the doors opened in front of her cabin, he was surprised to see no light peeking out the bottom. The door unlocked, and he walked into her dimly-lit room. “Nicole?” he asked, quietly. His call was answered with a muffled groan, coming from her bed. He carefully walked towards her, thankful that she didn’t dim the fishtank. “Baby, what’s wrong?” 

“Headache. But, like, way worse,” she answered. He sat down on the edge of the bed, and leaned over her. 

“Let me guess,” he started, his voice quiet. “The light was bothering you? Head won’t stop throbbing? Feel dizzy?”

“And I want to puke,” she added, her voice cracking slightly. He pouted his lips, and gently ran his hand up and down her arm. 

“Yeah, sounds familiar.” 

“This is what happens when you say you have headaches?” she asked, moving the pillow off. He immediately moved his head so he was blocking the light from the fishtank. 

“More or less,” he answered. He pulled the blanket up, closer to her chin. He placed his palm on her cheek, sighing as he felt it wet with tears. “Alright I hope you didn’t have anything to do for the next few hours.” 

“You make it seem like your headaches aren’t this bad,” she said. He found the datapad next to her bed, the one with all of the light switches. He pushed a few buttons before dimming the fish tank slowly. “How did you do that?” she asked, able to sit up slightly. 

“How many times have I told you that there’s more than one set of buttons to press?” he scolded. The datapad went back to the end table, and he put the pillow that was on her head behind it. She leaned back, sighing deeply as she did. 

“Ow…” she said, her voice quieter than he’s ever heard. “Kaid-” Her hand was quickly covered by his.

“Shh. I’m right here, Nick. Just relax.” He stood up, letting go of her hand as late as possible. He found his way to the mini fridge in her cabin, grabbing two bottles of water. 

“How long is this going to last?”

“If you keep talking, it’ll last longer,” he said. The water bottles were placed on the end table, his shoes were removed. “I know it’s tough, but try and get some sleep. Please.” His voice was quiet, calm. He carefully laid down on the bed next to her. He heard her breathing, every breath intentional and forced. He made himself comfortable beside her, letting her rest her head against his thigh. She gently moved closer to him, and she pressed her body against his. Her clinging was desperate, yet he could still easily escape her grasp. 

“Thank you,” she said quietly, her voice muffled against his leg. He cracked a smile, one side of his mouth perking up more than the other. His fingers started to move through her hair. 

“Always, Nicole,” he reassured her. Her breathing grew slower, her grip more relaxed. His hand never left her head. 

“Shit…. How do you deal with these all the time?” she asked. 

“By staying quiet, for one,” he said, his voice quiet but stern. She mumbled something against his thigh, but he was unable to make out what she was saying. He had a pretty good feeling that it was something insulting, so he just chuckled. His fingers went through her hair, and he admired the way it always seemed so soft. Even after an encounter with every variation of reaper, her brown hair was soft and had the perfect shine to it. He looked down at her, her cheek squished against him. His smile grew. Her hair might be supermodel perfect, but her full cheeks were something Nicole was embarrassed by. Kaidan, however, couldn’t love her cheeks more. The pink tone that filled her face when she was flustered, the way her smile was exaggerated by the apples of her cheeks. And now, the way her skin molded to his body, the marks she’ll have later, indents from his uniform. He sighed, moving his gaze out in front of him. 

“You sure there’s no pill I can take?” she asked quietly, earning a small groan from the man above her. 

“Unfortunately not, so just shut up and relax for a few hours. Try and get some shut-eye, okay?” He was only slightly frustrated with her, knowing she was in a lot of pain. But, it was in her nature to be stubborn. He looked down at her, when he suddenly felt her pulling on his hips. He chuckled to himself. “You’re the stubborn one, for the record,” he said, laying down next to her. He faced her, letting her get comfortable around him. 

“You love me,” she proclaimed, pressing her nose against his chest. She felt his arms wrap around her, a warm feeling spreading outward from where he pressed his palms against her. 

“Well, you’re right about that,” he said. His lips found her hairline, kissing her gently. She moved closer, pressing their bodies even closer together. They both stopped stirring, the only sounds in the cabin were their breathing and the filter of the fish tank. “And I’m always going to,” he whispered. He felt her take a deep breath, and only a few minutes later did he hear her snoring. He always laughed the first time each night. How a woman so small could snore so loud was beyond him. But it was just another thing she was embarrassed about that he wouldn’t change for the world. He closed his eyes, finally able to rest knowing she would feel better soon. Anything he could do in this war to make her feel better, he would do. Even if it meant delaying reports to the council. 


End file.
